no reporters have done that. given how the country feels the last time we put a republican in the white house. but the cayman islands, really? would have been more subtle to send them to visit mr. romney's bank accounts. and now it is time for the last word with laurence oh d'donneo'. have a great tight. >> tonight, we are discovering that death and devastation is worse in one part of the city than we realized. and president obama will be back on the campaign trail next nour

the first time since the storm. >> my bet is on you. >> it is time for a big change. >> what the governor is offering sure ain't change. >>. >> this election will have enormous commennsequence. >> it hit very hard. >> he is not part of this conversation. >> these are critical times. >> flood watters starting to recede. >> i cannot thank the president enough for his personal concern. >> will this be the very image of this campaign? >> a republican and democrat coming together. >> their bet is on sinsism and my bet is on you. >> mike bloomberg has just

endorsed the president. >> that has to hurt. >> i was someone who ran businesses. >> mitt romney's businesses don't add up. the start of the closing argument. the sprint to the finish. if you don't run, chris christie will be the president. >> we begin with the coverage of hurricane sandy. others there is death, devastation and speaking with reporters this afternoon. new jersey's republican governor christie continued to talk about the importance of bipartisan cooperati cooperation. >> in moments like this. there are not democratic and republican neighbors who have been affected by this storm.

our job is to work together to return new jersey to normalcy as quickly as possible. that is what people expect of us now. >> back on the campaign trail the gpresident echoe eed govern christie in wisconsin. >> there are no good mornidemoc republicans. fellow american peoples, leaders working to fix what is broken. neighbors helping neighbors and communities rallies to rebuild. a spirit that says, in the end we are all in this together that we rise or fall as one nation as one people. >> as for where the recovery stands tonight around 4.6 million homes and businesses without power. that is done from 8 million after the storm. wnbc here in new york reports

that around 50,000 utility workers are descenting on the region from as far away as california and canada. authorities say that the storm killed 94 people in the united states. here in new york, the latest count by city officials indicates now 37 deaths, 19 of those on staten island alone. the red cross today century spons units to the hardest hit areas to distribute water. fema officials arrived there today with food and supplied. governor christie's office announced today that new jersey transit will restart with service tomorrow. officials are working to expand the limited service of the subways. amtrack will begin to run

partial service of the city tomorrow. growing problem will be lines at stations stretching for more than a mile. in the city of yonkers officials are limits customers to no more than ten gallons. in south manhattan people went through dumpsters today to look for unspoiled food thrown out by a super market. officials warning that the east coast could be hit by another storm this time next week. the devastation on staten island the new york borough that was the hardest hit. we get the latest from nbc news correspondent. anne? >> good evening. three days after the hurricane. people in this community are accusing government agencies

here than with the wealthier parts of the city. every person on this block lost everything. >> staten island has had enough. >> we want everyone to know that we are hurting here and we need help. >> residents here are asking why hasn't more help arrived. >> i think we are not getting the attention because we are a working class neighborhood and it is a fend for yourself kind of thing. >> on the streets of this community where the death toll has reached 19 frustration played out on live television. >> you need to come here and help us please. >> the borough president called it a disgrace. >> the red cross is nowhere to be found. all of these people making the big salaries should be out there on the frowned lines and i am disappointed.

>> the rescross says it is sending ten vehicles with food and water. >> officials are questioning the authorities. the city is talking about getting water out of the battery tunnel and preparing for a marathon we are pulling bodies out of the water. do you see the disconnect here? >> they are going to house to house looking tore those that didn't follow the mandatory evacuation order. >> when you say the response -- >> we brought everyone in. fema task forces have been assigned here now and assisting us with the searches. >> we are talking with the residents that have been affected and urging everyone to register with fema. >> i thought i was going to stay here for the rest of my life. >> she did lose virtually everything else. >> i want to go home but there

is no home. i can't go home. that is killing me. it is breaking my heart. i want to go home to my house. 62 and a grandmother she is trying to find traces of her life. a moment of joy as the water recedes amid widespread desperation and brief. >> adding to the sadness here today bodies of two small children ripped from their mother's arms were found today. by the way we asked to the mayor to respond to the outrage and we are waiting for his respond. back to you. >> anne curry thank you. we have learned tonight that the secretary of homeland security will travel to staten island tomorrow. joining me now is new york assembly man michael cusic a democrat who represents staten

island and was with them today as they toured staten island. what do you think the delay is attributable to in terms of the response there? >> hi lawrence. well, today was a tough day here on staten island as were the last two days. it has always been at a disadvantage being the borough that is outside of new york it's. but today we have gotten people's attention and that is what areally important. it is something that people have never even out here.

it is important now that all of these agencies now realize that staten island was hit the hard est of all the areas of new york city. >> when you look at the geography of it it is the most exposed and direct ocean exposure up there and what i have been wondering about. was it a matter of us getting the tv cameras down there in order to get the attention that media resources were distributed in lower manhattan and elsewhere. but it seems like the media got there before government help started focusing obthere.

when you have media and senators together. they bring along the media and i think having them come out here and pointing the spotlight on what we have been seeing for the last few days first hand got people's attention. and people realized how really bad it is out here on staten island and i think it does. the media in the last couple of day days in other areas of the region how bad it is i think today we have seen the results of that coverage just this morning. we now have red cross out here. the national guard has a

presentation out here as of tonight. so, it has had a positive impact shining that spotlight on staten island and what we are going through here. >> the island has been settled for over 400 years. it is a very urban environment. it is not like some of the areas for long island and recent histories with houses way out onto beach territory. some of them situated. it is not the kind of island environment where you think of yourselves as having ocean on

the sides and i was born and raised here on staten island and so were my mom and dad. staten island has had a feeling of what you had said. the complete opposite. there was never a threat. people never thought that there would be problems with the tides. here on staten island. and i think that is what caught a lot of people off guard here on staten island was that we never thought something like this could happen. we do have many beautiful houses and beautiful community that is are on the coast lines of our island. and we never thought there would be a problem like this. and i think that caught a lot of people off guard. >> michael cusik thank you very much for joining us tonight. tomorrow night, msnbc will host

a concert and telethon to raise money for the american red cross relief efforts. you can see it right here starting at 8:00 pm and i will be here tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. for a special live edition friday night edition of the last word. coming up. president obama is back on the campaign industrial. and the rewrite tonight we will rewrite your understanding of the new york. and the islands that is the biggest small town in america coming up. a hybrid? most are just no fun to drive. now, here's one that will make you feel alive. meet the five-passenger ford c-max hybrid. c-max says ha. c-max says wheeee. which is what you get, don't you see?

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the mayor says hurricane sandy played a part. the part of the city you have probably never been an know nothing about. and that is in tonight's rewrite. ♪

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with five days until the election. president campaigned where he delivered this message. >> the folks at the top in this country, they don't need a champion in washington. they will have a seat at the table. they will have access and influence. we understand that but the people who need a champion are the letters whose i read every night. those un peopyoung people and s pa farm towns and up here kids dreaming of becoming scientists maybe even a president they need a champion in washington. >> the president saying he is an agent for change.

governor romney using his talents as a saililsalesman to up the policies that we have been cleaning up after after these last four years. my opponent can talk about change but i know what change looks like because i fought for it. because i have the scars to prove it. >> michael bloomberg did not endorse a presidential candidate in 2008. today he endorsed president in and writes the devastation that hurricane sandy brought the stakes of tuesday's election to sharp relief. i want our president to play

scientific evidence above electoral politics. mitt romney will campaign and during the 2008 campaign senator john mccain made a late play for pennsylvania campaigning there sunday before election day and went onto lose the state by over ten points. new nbc polls shows president obama over mitt romney. in wisconsin, president obama polled at 49% with mitt romney at 46%. in new hampshire president obama polled at 49%, mitt romney at 47% and detroit press poll and cnn poll showed in colorado

president obama at 50% and mitt romney at 48%. tonight president obama has an 81% chance of winning re-election. alex cwagner, so mike bloomberg somehow finally made up his mind. everyone is focused on the climate change. in that article he mentions the pez's position on abortion and the health care law. so this isn't just this week. this is something that mayor bloomberg has been thinking about for some time and it is coming as the president finished the bromance tour with chris

christie. it is a good week for the president. >> when you read the mayor's reasons, what was he waiting for. there wasn't a single thing that he was in line for? >> it seems to me that he is someone who has a large conception on his role on american national affairs and an early endorsement would not preserve that. the mayor's people say there is off the recoorecord reporters ae time. if you look at the economists the center right conservative publication, what you see is that the president's record is who he is and how he has

governed and it meets with the approval of the board and people like mike bloomberg. it is the polar opposite that has been painted by on the right for so long. he called up mitt romney for flip-flopping and saying i might have voted for him. which is almost as damming as the endorsement itself. >> a lot of great reaction in the local media here to what has happened in the last few days. mike lutica wrote this. what president obama barack obama and the others brought with them was their government. you better believe that means the kind of big government that

everyone has talked about like it was an assault on our country it's freedoms and future. this was the government the one that every one talked so tough about until they need it. >> it under lines something that we have been saying under the campaign. there is a fake debate about the size and roll of the government. it is who is it going to help and who is going to have a say in that government. how will be things be distributed in the hard of the argument? the question is it going to be there for folks that are poor and on medicaid. it is about who would benefit? >> the thing that has happened

that has been painful is that fema seems to be working better than it did under george bush and obama has cut the red tape. that is not something that republicans thought was possible at the federal level. >> and how big a government does a big country need? how big a government does staten island need when it is under water tonight? it needs a bigger government and it needs the american government in there. one of the things, new york city has a lot of government. there are 60 departments in the city. and the fact of the matter is the irony is that all of this government replaces a lot of freedom. they are not mired in a socialist landscape. it is a free place and it shows

you that those visions are not compatable. >> coming up. bo bipartisnship is back and mitt romney is considering doing an interview next week. guess where that is coming up. ♪ these are... [ male announcer ] marie callender's puts everything you've grown to love about sunday dinner into each of her pot pies.

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chris trchristie is not the only republican ajust praising obama, is it wrong for one man to love another man? but that manlove out there is isolated in the state of new jersey. >> rush limbaugh might not like it but it received the most applause on the campaign trail today. >> for me to get the things done that i've just described i'm going to need to reach across the aisle and there are good democrats like that. i'm going to meet regularly with

democrat leaders. >> when mayor bloomberg make our announcement today. we have to work together and have to be in this together. we have to stop this blue and red. we are a purple nation, man. we are made up of democrats. >> he really are. >> 80% of people polled this summer say they like political leaders that work to get the job done. new column today in time magazine, the best reason for his re-election goes back to what motivated so many middle of the road voters. need obama to win again and

obama defeat would empower those who go for broke approach to politics would acknowledge those who have a distemper for this. >> expand on your point in the column. do you think americans looking at these candidates will see president obama as more of a possible man of compromise than mitt romney? >> well, they should on the basis of the record. he went very, very far through the debt ceiling fight to try to reach a deal with republicans. the deal he was willing to agree to made progressives like me unhappen yixt but i think the country is going to decide is

that you have a much more radical republican party than you used to have. and believe in kind of radical individualism and no government outside the pentagon. and i think the country sort of sensed that when the republicans were willing to push the country to the limit in the debt ceiling fight. mitt romney knows that won't really sell to swing voters. that is why he replaced himself in the debates and why he is doing this push now. but i think you cannot reward the behavior in the last couple of years and expect the dysfunction to go away. >> i wonder what they think bit. is it some democrats answering the poll by which they mean i want republicans to agree with

the president's idea or the other way aren't? >> right. it is an attractive word and where the middle would be. another poll that i found independenting from a while back asked people do you prefer compromise. democrats two thirds said they wanted compromise and two thirds of republican ares said stick to your compromise. they feel like it is the right strategy for them. to go forward with obstruckism but it is what their base wants and they become so afraid of growth challenges and they move further to the right and are unwilling to work on absolutely anything. stunning on how shocked they are

that governor christie is helping the president. >> rush limbaugh has a theory about the president. >> i'm hearing all kinds of people say that he wants to run for president 2016 and he can't do that if romney gets elected. there are people on the republican side that think that. >> he has to run for re-election fired a first and he knows who is going to be the president of the united states a week from now and that is barack obama ma. mitt romney -- the president who is going help out new jersey is president in october, november, december and january and chris

christie needs him. i think that is the thing that people over look. they assume that either you work together or you play politics. in this case the politics is working in favor of cooperation. as you say, obama is going to be president for at least three months and christie in a year is going to be judged primarily by how he responds to this crisis. people are affected when they look like stuff like this. >> i have family in rock away. you can't see this level of suffers and say i'm a political leader and i have to solve this problem. you have that great discussion. my favorite line on government comes from government is the enemy until you need a friend.

>> that was a great line. there was bipartisanship in the senate. >> not playing to the low basic common denominator of the political party. that ideology has take over our government. >> former senator of nebraska saying election this democrat. >> he understands too that in the senate. one person like richard murdoch can gum up the works. that if you want to block things you can do it on your own. it is a place that has been totally broken by the republican decision to obstruct everything

and has made the senate unworkable. >> coming up. new york city's other island is in the rewrite tonight and it will rewrite your understanding of the big city.

mitt romney has avoided every kind of interview for almost a month. he has finally decided to do an interview and i'll give you a couple of minutes to guess where. and we'll go to where the devastation is the worst in new york city and it is probably a place you have never been. that is necht. [ female announcer ] with swiffer dusters,

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. in order to form a more perfect union the island is bigger than some of our biggest cities like boston, pittsburgh, miami, san francisco, and it is bigger than washington d.c. where it's fate was decided. in 1834 congress settled the disbute by declaring that sat ten island belonged to new york. it has the smallest population of the five bureaus but it still means that it has more people than new orleans and it is a big piece of america.

overshadowed by bigger pieces called brooklyn, queens and man h man tan. to see all of it would be to rewrite new york city. it is the place where wild deer run across roadways. it is a place apart five miles on the ferry from manhattan and it might as well be a world away. it has almost everything that the rest of new york city has expect skyscrapers but it has much more. where ever you live in america staten island has a street that looks like a street in your town. rich streets with mansions, small town streets with han

handsohand some homes. if you get lost in the middle of stat ten it is easy to forget about it. and it is very for new yorkers in the other bureaus to forget about staten island. i know countless new yorkers who have never been there and never seen it. and that is fine most of the type. it doesn't rely on tourism for any of its vitality. it welcomes tourists to see the sights like the oldest house on the island built in 1662. but if the rest of new york wants to ignore it. that is all right. most of the people they love and

care about live on staten island. new york's mayors and police commissioners never have to worry about it. it always has the lowest crime rate. but tonight while life in most of the rest of the bureaus in new york city is getting back to normal it is suffering the most. most people on the island do not have electricity more than half of the 37 storm related deaths in new york city have occurred on staten island. 19 dead on staten island alone. tonight, staten island doesn't want to be ignored. for once, staten island needs help from city hall but staten island needs more than new york's help. it needs america's help.

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if you had a do over governor and you mentioned 47%, what should you have said about that 47%? well, wolf as you know i was talking about how do you get to 50.1% of the vote. i would like to get 100% of the vote. i was trying to get contributors how i get to 50.1%. >> that was mitt romney in his

last television interview. it has been 22 days since he has answered a question from reporters. since then this has been his response. >> which way are we going? >> thank you. >> why won't you answer any questions? >> the only other national interview mitt romney may do before tuesday's election is a half time interview during monday night football. here is a couple of examples of why he may be media shy even with fox news.

>> so you stay on camera and other places at times you thought it would be a model for the nation. >> you are wrong, brett. the tape out there, continue to read the tape. it goes on for each state to be able to look at it. >> with the romney's losses underscore a stark reality. the core of his party does not want him. >> i'm sorry they have to look at other states that are kind of important. let's say florida and michigan and ohio and nevada and the list goes on. >> what are the chances of the sportscaster guy asking him a tough fema question on monday if he doesn't? >> i would say near zero. and the tax return questions i guess, he is probably not going to get from the sportscaster.

>> it is the place to go. it is the place where you can have a simulation of an inner view without getting any of the questions. when you build a campaign on distraction it becomes more difficult. it is not new that the politicians try to control the encounters. what we have learned though, he does it more often with more severity than any one one else. there is a pool and that is a group of reporters that go to everything. and they issue pool reports as you well know from your time in politics. mitt romney tried to cut reporters in the pool out of covering his fundraisers. there was such disastrous push back from the press that they had to walk that back.

what was that about? it was weird. no republican had tried to do that. now, when they see the types of things that they said. it is wrong. >> the big baug dog at fox news is upset. he agrees with romney on every issue. let's listen to o'reilly complaining about it. >> mitt romney has a story to tell. in my oh pip. he has a story to tell. but i think what the sfrtrategys to retell it in ohio, virginia, florida, colorado and we have all of those states we win. we are not going to do this oh riley punk. we are not going to bother with him. >> think they made a

calculation. and there is not enough upside to take a chance to do an interview with you. >> what are they afraid of? >> if that is the chance. let's take a step back here. we are not talking about being grilled. mitt romney and bill o'reilly are on the same team going in the same direction and he doesn't have the guts or the strength of mind or ability to make his case to do it with a friendly interview. do we have a contrast for this? yes, we do. barack obama who is as far away as you can get did that inner view when he was a first time candidate which is comparable. i think it is striking. i'm not saying that he is the

first cpolitician to play aroun with it. one thing that romney was willing to do with letterman's top ten list, biden did it, let's take a look at that. >> thank you for having me. i hope everything has come along all right in new york. you have been devastated and every one is thinking of you. and we are doing everything we can to help. >> thank you. appreciate the kind words. >> top ten good things about voting early. take it away. number seven. >> less crowded polling senator plenty of room to linger and relax. >> number six. >> if you voterly you don't have to pay taxes. i'm sorry. i'm being told that is not accurate. >> number